MERCY

MERCY – 2^nd Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday, Year A

            Over time we can use words without reflecting fully on their meaning. Mercy is such a word. Depending on who and what it is applied to, it can have a powerful meaning. Human mercy and divine mercy are constant needs everyone has. Mercy supplies something that is needed, but cannot be purchased. It can be given and received.

            Divine Mercy is related to God’s love and compassion. Psalm 118 calls us to “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love is everlasting”. Repeating over and over again “His mercy endures forever”. We can grow in our understanding and gratitude for God’s Divine Mercy. We cannot live without God’s Divine Mercy. Divine Mercy, therefore, deserves our special attention. It is among our greatest needs and the Lord’s greatest gifts we can give to others.

            The Lord reveals He is not only willing, but eager to give us His mercy and for us to receive it. We can imagine if someone really wanted to live, and they were under some threat to their life, and were offered some form of mercy with no conditions attached, they would be more than eager to accept the mercy. Considering our need and the Lord’s offer, our most important action for our eternal salvation and life, our peace and wellbeing, needs to be a great openness to the mercy of God.

            The first letter of Peter speaks of God’s mercy. “Praised be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, He who in His great mercy gave us new birth; a birth unto hope which draws its life from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; a birth to an imperishable inheritance incapable of fading or defilement, which is kept in heaven for you who are guarded with God’s power through faith; a birth to a salvation which stand ready to be revealed in the last days.” That is powerful mercy, the offering of something we are incapable of achieving on our own, our birth into God’s life. This is possible to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

            This great gift of mercy may be turned away from, if we are conscious of sin. The Lord therefore wants to assure us, as sinners, of His merciful forgiveness. If the sinner arrives at the understanding of God’s mercy in forgiveness, he or she will want to turn away from sin. The acceptance of God’s mercy in forgiveness can be hard for some, who may think or feel that the Lord’s love and mercy are not available to them. God’s nature is mercy, compassion, forgiveness, love and truth. God loves us according to His own nature, rather than our own. So we need to listen to God’s words on His Divine Mercy.

            Among the first of the appearances of the Risen Lord, the power of forgiveness by the Holy Spirit was given to the Church. “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound.”

            The mercy of God is experienced in a wonderful way in the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation. The mercy of God cannot be experienced by many, because they refuse to receive God’s mercy and love in forgiveness. Even humanly speaking some find it hard to accept mercy, not so much because they don’t want it or know the need for it, but because they may not believe the one offering it really means it. Some don’t really believe in God’s Divine Mercy for themselves. They may believe it’s for others. The Lord wants it known that His mercy is for everyone. Jesus’ life and revelation reveals the fullness of God’s mercy. The Lord wants us to accept mercy!

            Other names for God’s mercy are compassion, forgiveness, charity, grace, peace, salvation and love. The world of Satan, evil and sin seeks to convince people of the opposites of these. If someone doesn’t believe in God’s mercy in these forms, then they may go deeper in the world of sin, to moral and spiritual darkness and despair.

            When we accept God’s mercy, we go into deeper divine love, life and salvation, and move farther from the world of sin. Accepting God’s mercy frees us, and makes us merciful. Trust in God’s great mercy for yourself and others!

Reflection from Divine Mercy # 1489

“The soul desirous of more of God’s mercy should approach God with greater trust; and if her trust in God is unlimited, then the mercy of God toward it will be likewise limitless.”